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Northwest Ordinance - Green
The Northwest Ordinance was passed in 1787. It abandoned the 10 districts established in in 1784 and created a single Northwest Territory out of the lands north of the Ohio. That territory could eventually be divided into between 3 and 5 territories. It specified a population of 60,000 for statehood, and guaranteed freedom of religion, a trial by jury, and prohibited slavery. This was a social and political even that lessened tensions before the war. -
Missouri Compromise - Green
The Missouri Compromise was a compromise that was made to maintain the balance of free and slave states. It admitted Missouri as a slave state and made the rule that any slave that was under the latitude line of Missouri's Southern border would be a slave state, and any state added that was above that line would be a free state. This was a political event that helped to lessen tensions before the war. -
Nat Turner's Rebellion - Red
Nat Turner was a Virginia slave that was allowed to read and learn religion, because of this he became a very prominent preacher. on August 21st, 1831, he and 75 other went around South Hampton County, Virginia, and killed an estimated 55 people. He and the other killed these people because they were owners of large plantations and they wanted to free the slaves. This was a social and political issue and it worsened tensions before the war. -
Gag Rule - Green
The Gag Rule was introduced by James Hammond in 1836. It was a rule that forbade discussions of slavery in Congress. It was implemented to stop the discussions of abolishing slavery to try and reduce tensions between the North and the South. It ended up getting repealed on December 3rd, 1844, by John Quincy Adams. This was a political event that ended up reducing tensions. -
Amistad Case - Red
In February of 1839, Portuguese slave hunters abducted a large group of Africans from Sierra Leone and shipped them to Havana, Cuba. This violated all of the treaties that were in existence. The Africans on the ship seized the ship, killed the captain and the cook and ended up arriving at Long Island where the Amistad was seized. The Supreme Court had to decide whether they would be salves or be free and they decided that they would be free. This was a political event that worsened tensions. -
Annexation of Texas - Red
When Texas declared itself independent form mexico in 1836, the United States wanted to make it a state. However if it were to get added ti would get added as a slave state. This caused tensions to rise between the Mexican Government and Texans because the Mexicans were against slavery. Texas did up becoming part of the United States on December 29, 1845, however it led to the Mexican War. This was a political even that worsened tensions before the war. -
Dred Scott Decision - Red
After the master of Dred Scott died, because he was brought to a free state he believed he was free. But Dred's master's widow's brother believed that Scott should be his property. This case ended up going to the Supreme Court where Chief Justice Taney ruled that Dred was to remain a slave because Congress couldn't take property away form people. This ruling made the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional. This was a political even that worsened tensions. -
Mexican War - Red
The War began in 1846 due to the tensions caused by the annexation of Texas. Polk ordered Taylor's army in Texas to move across the Nueces River to the Rio Grande, and once some Mexican troops crossed the Rio Grande they attacked a unit of American soldiers. The war had many critics in the US, such as the Whig critics who insisted that Polk had deliberately moved the nation into conflict. This was a political issue that worsened tensions before the war. -
Wilmot Proviso - Green
In August 1846, and anti slavery Democrat, Representative David Wilmot of Pennsylvania, introduced an amendment to the appropriation bill. This amendment prohibited slavery in any territory acquired form Pennsylvania. The Wilmot Proviso passed the House but failed in the Senate, and it would be called up, debated, and voted on repeatedly for years.This was a political even that lessened tensions. -
California Gold Rush - Red
Gold was discovered in California in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. It was discovered in January of 1848 by James Marshall. When the word of the gold for out it lured many Americans to California to search for gold to make their fortune. But as more people moved to California the discussion for whether it would be a free or slave state was brought up. This was a political and economic issue that worsened tensions between the North and the South before the war. -
Compromise of 1850 - Red
A bill negotiated and drafted by Henry Clay. It initially failed but ended up getting passed as 5 separate bills. They allowed slavery in D.C. but banned the slave trade there, admitted California as a free state, declared new boundaries of Texas, passed the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, and said that Utah and New Mexico would determine whether they were slave states by popular sovereignty. This was a political event and it ended up raising tensions between the North and the South before the war. -
Fugitive Slave Act - Red
The Fugitive Slave Act was passed in 1850. The act required members of the North to bring runaway slaves back to the South. This act was passed because the slave owners of the South wanted to keep their slaves in their plantations. The North hated this act and attempted to nullify it. This was a political event that worsened tensions between the North and the South before the Civil War. -
Publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin - Red
An anti-slavery novel written by Harriet Beecher Stowe. It old 300,000 copies withing three months and was very widely read. While Harriet was living in Cincinnati she encountered fugitive enslaved people and the Under ground railroad and once the fugitive slave laws were tightened she wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin as a reaction. The book had a major influence on the way that the American public viewed slavery. This was a political and social issue that worsened tensions before the war. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act - Red
An act created by Stephen A Douglas and approved by President Franklin Pierce. The act organized two territories for settlement, those being Kansas and Nebraska, and it allowed for them to decide themselves whether they would be free or slave state. Douglas wanted it to be this way because he saw the Missouri Compromise as unconstitutional. This caused a lot of violence in what is known as "Bleeding Kansas". This was a political event that worsened tensions before the Civil War. -
Ostend Manifesto - Red
In 1854, Franklin Pierce received a private document form Ostend, Belgium, that made the case for seizing Cuba by force as opposed to buying it from Spain. This leaked to the public and enrage many antislavery northerners who charge the administration with conspiring to bring a new slave state into the Union. This was a political event that Worsened tensions between the North and the South before the war. -
The Raid on Harpers Ferry - Red
John Brown, an American abolitionist, and his followers raided Harpers Ferry, Virginia. The raid lasted from October 16-18, 1859, and Brown initiated this raid with hopes of inspiring a slave revolution. This was both a political and social event, and it was an event that worsened the tensions between the North and the South. -
Crittenden Compromise - Red
In December 1860, Kentucky Senator John J. Crittenden introduce legislation aimed at resolving the secession crisis in the South. It included 6 constitutional amendments and 4 proposed Congressional resolutions. Crittenden hoped it would appease the Southern states and help the US avoid war. It would have guaranteed the existence of slavery by reestablishing the line drawn by the Missouri Compromise. Its rejection by the North led to its failure. It was a political event that worsened tensions.